While He's Gone
by SimonKilnsworth
Summary: A short little aside for Another Undertale. After Ryan fled Snowdin, Sallie struggles with the aftermath of what happened in the forest. With the help of Papyrus, she tries to convince the town that Ryan isn't a threat and to come up with a way to get him back.


**What's up?**

 **So as I finished up the Snowdin part of Another Undertale, I started mulling over in my head what exactly Sallie would be doing while Ryan off running through the rest of the Underground and it just kind of became its own thing.**

 **So, here it is.**

* * *

For a long time, Sallie could do nothing but stand where she was, staring at the spot where he had disappeared. It had all happened so fast that she had just unconsciously went along with what was happening. And now he was gone. Why didn't she say anything? Why didn't she try to stop him? She couldn't have, if what he had said was true, but there was still so much she should have said.

He had never kissed her before, and it had been getting to the point where she thought he really was not interested. And now that he finally had, she hated him for it. "You damn prude." She said as tears she could no longer hold back began to fall down her face. "If you're not even going to say goodbye, the least you could do is stop acting like we're twelve."

She wiped her eyes and stared down the path out of Snowdin with a bit more resolve than a moment ago. "You owe me now, damn it. You have some nerve making me fall in love with you and then running off like that, so you better come back." Finally, she managed to turn away. Any longer and she likely would have started running off after him. "And I'll make sure you're welcome back when you do."

Sallie made it back to the square just the monsters were returning from the forest. At their head was Undyne, her gaze was fixed on the ground and the injured Snowy held in her arm. Her other hand was still wrapped tightly around her spear which she looked ready to throw at the first monster that said something she did not like. As a result, the rest of the group stayed well and clear. They filled the square as Undyne went up to Sallie's aunt as she stepped out of her inn to see what the commotion was. Undyne handed the injured monster to her and said something Sallie could not hear over the mumbling crowd around her. She clutched her hands to her chest. What exactly happened?

Then, she noticed the smoke coming from the other side of the forest. Small whips and thicker columns spread nearly across the width of the dome.

Undyne walked through the crowd, not looking at anyone, heading in the direction Ryan had gone. Sallie intercepted her before she could make it out of the square. "What's going on?" She asked her, unable to hide all of the panic from her voice. The heads of nearly everyone in the crowd turned towards them and all mumbled conversation ceased. Apparently, Sallie was not the only one who would have liked the answer to that question.

For a moment, all of the Royal Guardsman's anger was directed at Sallie, and she flinched back involuntarily from her gaze. Then Undyne turned to the crowd, staring instead at the spear she clutched in her hand. "There is a human in the Underground." Sallie heard a few monsters gasp, she herself wanted to collapse. "And he's been hiding under our noses this whole time." The warrior did not need to say who it was, they all knew immediately.

"Fear not." She went on. "Tonight he will die, and we will be one step closer to freedom!"

The crowd let out a cheer, tears streamed down Sallie's face anew. "Why?" She shouted before she could stop herself. And the crowd turned on her in an instant.

"How could you say that?" One said. "Didn't you see what he did to poor Snowy?" Another added. "Not only that, he almost burnt down half the forest as well!" Sallie did not want to believe it; she could not believe it. Ryan had told her they would accuse him of things, but this? What exactly _had_ happened that night?

She must have been shaking her head in denial, because one of the bears walked up to her and said, "We all know you had feeling for him, but he's a human. He has to be stopped."

"How could you say that? After everything he's done for all of us."

The bear sighed, unwilling to meet Sallie's gaze. "I wish I knew why he acted like that, I really do."

"Act? That wasn't an act. That was him! That's who he is! He's a kind person that cares about all of us! And the fact that he's human doesn't change anything!"

"Doesn't change anything?" Undyne's cold fury came from behind her. "It changes everything! I saw him, with my own eye, standing over Snowy after setting fire to the forest. He would have killed him if I had not chased him off!"

"He wouldn't do that!" Sallie pleaded. "There must be some misunderstanding!"

"No, accept the truth, girl, it will be easier for you. Your boyfriend dies tonight." The soldier turned towards Waterfall and a cheer followed her departure.

After she was gone, they all turned to her. No one said anything more, but she could feel their disappointment. Soon, they began to clear the square until it was only her and her mother standing under the light covered tree. Could it really have been such a short time since she and him had danced under that tree? Her mother's gaze held the same disappointment as the rest. "You knew." She said. It was not a question. Sallie bit back her words, unable to meet her mother's eyes. "How long?" She did not answer; she wanted to wake up from this stupid nightmare. She wanted to hold Ryan and leave the rest of this stupid world behind. "How long, girl?" Her mother asked again.

"Awhile, okay?" She shouted finally. "That's why I know he couldn't have done what they're saying. Human or not, he's still the same person."

"It's not that simple dear."

"It is that simple! Why am I the only one that sees that?"

Her mother sighed. "I'm sorry, Sallie, I really am. I know that this is difficult for you to accept, but this is best for everyone."

"Best for…" She looked at her mother incredulously. "How is killing him best for everyone? I love him, mom; I can't lose him! And he's only had a positive impact on the lives of everyone in this town. I don't believe he hurt Snowy, he's the kid's best friend!"

Her mother shook her head. "It's out of your hands now." She walked away without saying another word.

Sallie collapsed beneath the tree in her sorrow, clutching her knees to her chest and letting tears come unhindered. A hand on her shoulder made her look up. It was **sans** ; the skeleton was staring out at where both Undyne and Ryan had disappeared. " **don't worry** " He said without looking down at her. " **i'll make sure he doesn't get himself killed** "

The monster walked out to the edge of the town and was gone the moment Sallie blinked. She watched Papyrus running after him a moment later. The skeleton managed to look worse for wear than she felt. For some reason, she trusted **sans** and it made her feel a little better.

Sallie sat beneath the tree for a while longer, trying to figure out what she could do to fix all of this as the last of her tears flushed themselves from her system. But, unfortunately she could not come up with anything.

.

"What is wrong with all of them?" Sallie exclaimed as Grillby filled her drink again. She had already lost track of how many she had, but she had also stopped caring. "Why is the fact that he's human all they can seem to focus on? What happened to the months he spent here being probably the nicest person in the world?"

The softly spoken fire monster simply looked down at her as he set down the bottle on the bar. "The only reason they all hate humans so much is because our parents kept telling us about how evil they were hundreds of years ago!" She went on. "What should I do?" She looked up pleadingly and the other monster, but Grillby just shrugged.

Sallie took another sip of her drink. "And no matter what I tell them, they won't listen because they all still think he hurt Snowy… I believe him when he told me he didn't, but…" As the rabbit's focus drifted, Grillby pulled the half finish drink away from her and dumped it down a sink.

"That it!" She exclaimed suddenly, "If I can get Snowy to tell everyone it wasn't Ryan who hurt him, then maybe I can finally get somewhere with all of them." Sallie stood up and hugged Grillby over the bar, much to the monster's surprise. "Thanks Grillbz," Sallie said as she let him go. "You're a great help as always."

Sallie ran, or rather stumbled, out of the bar and into the street. After going home to grab a thicker jacket and to try to sober up some, she began her way out of the town and into the forest. She had a pretty good idea of where the Drake family lived, but was still a little worried she'd get lost. Oh well, if it came to that, she could find one of the sentries to help point the way. Unless it was one of the dogs, little help they would be…

The rabbit wrapped her coat tighter around herself as she descended into the forest. It had somehow gotten much colder since yesterday, reflecting the mood of the place perfectly. "One of these days I will get you to show me how you always manage to stay so damn warm…" She grumbled to herself. She knew Ryan must just use some spell he came up with, but she was certain he denied it just to bug her. "'I don't know, cold just doesn't affect me.'" She mocked. "Says the man who you can see steam rising off of whenever snow hit him. He has to be using a spell!"

Much of the journey through the woods was spent in conversation with herself. Grumbling away her fear and anxiety to the trees did help somewhat, but when she reached the small house in the midst of the large clearing she still felt like she wanted to leap out of her fur.

She knocked on the door and waited. Nobody came. She knocked again, still nothing. As she was about to knock a third time, the door cracked open.

The older of the drake brothers opened the door slowly, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. It was then Sallie realized just how early in the morning it must have been. Well, she had already come this far. "Hi." She started awkwardly. "How's Snowy doing? Can I see him?"

The drake looked up at her. If his expression was not sour before, it certain was now. "He's not here. He ran away again after our farther blew up at him and left."

Sallie gasped. "What? We have to find him!"

The drake shook he his head. "He'll be fine."

"But he was hurt and-"

"He'll be fine." The monster said again, more forcefully this time. "He was patched up, no drowsiness. He had a long day, we all did. He deserves some space, and this time I'm willing to give it to him."

"Do you know where I might-?"

"Goodnight." The drake finished before closing the door in her face.

Sallie thought about knocking again, but eventually let her hand drop. There was no point in pestering the kid. She walked back into Snowdin with her head low. The streets were empty, everyone already in bed by that hour. She entered her home and was thankful her mother was asleep as well. Sleep did not come easy to the rabbit monster, and when it did it was not restful.

The next morning found Sallie in Grillby's once more. Staring at the straw in her drink as she spun it as if it held the answers to the universe, she tried to figure out what her next move should be. "I can't very well search the whole forest. It'd take weeks." She thought aloud. "And the only people who know where he goes are gone or won't talk to me. Why can't life just be easy for once?"

A Shape sitting down in her booth across from her pulled her attention back to the world around her. It was Papyrus; the skeleton still looked more worried than she did. "Greetings." He started, sounding unsure of what he was really doing. "I know we've never really talked before… Sallie?" She nodded, waiting to see where this was going. "But I know you're good friends with Ryan, and I was wondering if you'd be able to help me."

"You want to help him too?" Sallie asked in disbelief.

The skeleton suddenly became much more sure of himself. "Of course! I am his best friend. And, as his best friend, I am the only one allowed to put him in life or death situations. He told me so himself."

Sallie smiled. Whatever the skeleton meant by what he just said, she was just happy to have someone on her side in this. "I'd be happy to help you Papyrus. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well, I already tried convincing Undyne not to kill him, but that didn't go over very well. I was actually hoping you'd have a better idea."

The rabbit groaned. "I don't know how to deal with Undyne, and frankly I don't really want to. Damn it, she scares me."

The last was meant more for herself, but Papyrus commented anyway. "Don't worry; she scares everyone, especially Ryan. That's why I'm certain he'll be able to get away from her. I just wish I knew how to get her to listen…" The skeleton trailed off.

"Well, how about this: I've been trying to think of ways to convince everyone here that just because Ryan's a human doesn't mean he's suddenly evil. And I have a lead for how to that, but I have no idea where he is."

"Snowy, right?" Sallie blinked in surprise. The skeleton was more on point than she gave him credit for.

She nodded. "If you help me find him and help me convince the town, I'll help you think of a way to get Undyne off of his back. And then we can bring him home. Deal?"

"If Snowy ran away again, then I know exactly where he is. He has a hideout near the far end of the forest."

Sallie almost stood up in shock. "How do you know that?"

Once more Papyrus seemed to become puffed up. "I am a sentry, my dear. I am required to know these kinds of things."

The rabbit barely waited until the skeleton was done talking before pulling him out of the booth. "Then what are we sitting here for? Let's go!"

.

As the pair approached Snowy's hideout Sallie was very thankful she did not have to search through the forest on her own. She would have walked right past the covered clearing had it not been pointed out to her. Papyrus stood holding some branches back so she could step inside.

The place was mess. What had once been forts were now little more than piles of snow. Ice stakes stuck out of the ground or were embedded in trees. The whole scene made Sallie even more nervous. Snowy was much angrier than she thought, and angry monsters had the tendency to be unpredictable. The young monster may not want to listen to her at all.

Her long ears picked up a noise above her. Her head turned to the branches of a nearby tree and she saw a small blue shape shift amongst the branches. She gestured to Papyrus before walking underneath the monster. The sound she had heard was sniffles, she realized, the drake was crying.

"Hey, Snowy?" She started, making the young monster jump to a higher branch. Looking down at Sallie, his surprise quickly turned to anger.

"Go away." He said before turning away again.

"Snowy, I know you're not in the best place right now, but I was wondering if we could talk about what happened the other night."

"Why? So you can tell me that I'm stupid too for falling for a human's tricks? So you can tell me how dumb it was to try and stop him myself? Or are you still trying to bring him back to prove he didn't do anything? Well, I don't care what you want. And I don't care about you or him either. He can die for all I care."

"Snowy-" Sallie began, but Papyrus put a hand on his shoulder.

The skeleton stuck out his hand towards the tree and a staircase of bones sprouted from its trunk. He walked up the tree and sat down on a branch across from the small monster as the bones faded to mist. "How's your wing doing kiddo?" He started. The drake just shrugged and Papyrus let out a soft chuckle before continuing. "You know, when I was about your age, there was this time when my brother got himself seriously hurt. He had managed to fall asleep while standing at the edge of a cliff. I found him covered in snow at the bottom with his head nearly cracked in two. I was so scared he wouldn't make it…" He paused. "We were the only two in the forest that day. When I brought my brother back, they had all thought he had gotten hurt due to my klutziness. I could hardly say hi to anyone with them looking at me with disappointment for weeks. I could tell some of them thought that it would be better if I just… wasn't there."

Sallie stood near the trunk of the tree looking up at the two monsters. Snowy has yet to meet the skeleton's gaze. Papyrus looked ready to cry before he went on. "Luckily, my brother woke up and straightened out the story, and I thought that would be the end of it. It wasn't. There were still those who thought he was just lying for my benefit. And that look never left their eyes.

"When I first met Ryan, I had known he was a human almost from the beginning." Snowy scowled at the sudden turn in the conversation. Sallie wondered what the skeleton was doing. "All I could think at the time was 'oh boy! This is it! Once I capture the human, I can join the Royal Guard and finally people will see more than just a klutz! And then maybe they'll stop looking at me like that…' I wouldn't be surprised to find out that in the beginning I gave Ryan the same looks I hated everyone giving me…

"But, then I started to learn that Ryan wasn't at all like what we hear about growing up. He was… nice. I realized, after, that he could have knocked me down at any time and just moved on – he could have killed me, if he wanted to – but he didn't. He played along with my schemes and my puzzles, he followed my rules. And even after a night of my screw ups and threatening to capture him he still wanted to be friends with me. He even wanted to date me, if you could believe that!" Sallie filed that one away for later.

"I knew that I couldn't let someone like that suffer the same pain that I did. If monsters found out he was human, they would look at him the same way they looked at me. And he doesn't deserve that, does he Snowy?"

Sallie realized that the small monster was crying. Tears fell down to the snow below him. "No, he doesn't" The small monster almost choked on the words.

"Ryan didn't hurt you, did he? He wouldn't hurt any of us, even if we attacked him." The drake shook his head. "I thought so."

"Why did he lie to me?" Snowy asked the skeleton, finally looking up at him. "I thought we were friends! Why didn't he trust me enough to tell me?"

Papyrus looked out of the branches of the tree a moment. Sallie realized, following his gaze, that he was looking out to the part of the forest that had been burned down. Trickles of smoke still poked above the tree line. "Sometimes we lie to our friends to spare them pain. But then when the truth comes out, it only amplifies that pain."

"That sounds like a dumb reason…" Snowy commented.

Papyrus chuckled again. "Well, anything better than that, you'd have to ask him yourself."

The young monsters look turned to a shocked realization. "But Undyne…"

"I wouldn't worry too much about that." The skeleton told him. "My brother has that side of things covered for now. Which means we have to focus on getting him back here. Which means we have to start with convincing the town to let him back here. What do you say, want to help us?" Papyrus put out his arm for the other monster and Snowy hopped on after a moment as his sign of acceptance.

A large bone sprung out of the snow, making Sallie jump back. Papyrus stepped onto it as it reached his feet and he rode it down as it retreated back into the ground. "Then let's get started." The monster said as he stepped back onto the ground. He looked at Sallie and smiled. "Shall we?"

Sallie gave the skeleton an approving smile of her own and nodded.

.

An hour later, Sallie stood beneath the pine tree in the center of town once more. Snowy perched on one of the low hanging branches behind her. A crowd was starting to form in the square. She had told Papyrus to try to get everyone he could that would be willing to listen, and to not keep it secret what they were gathering them for. Monsters were staring to mumble amongst themselves. By Sallie's head count, they almost had everyone.

She turned to Snowy who was looking at the crowd with a measure of distress. "You doing alright, Snowy?" She asked the drake.

Snowy swallowed before answering. His eyes did not leave the crowd. "Umm, I have a bit of a problem with large groups…" He told her.

"I thought you wanted to be a comedian?"

"Yeah, well, one problem at a time, you know?" The monster flapped his wings as if he was debating whether to hide further up the tree, but ultimately he resettled himself.

Papyrus joined them a moment later. He nodded to Sallie that he had gotten everyone he could. Sallie turned back to Snowy. "Don't worry; we'll do the talking, okay?"

Someone in the crowd spoke up before she could even begin. "What are we doing here, girl?" They said. "We've already been over this."

Sallie took a deep breath and turned to the town. "Ryan didn't hurt anyone." She began. "This has all been a misunderstanding." The eyes of everyone were on her. None of their expressions changed. "Isn't that right, Snowy?" The small monster nodded without looking up. He seemed to be trying to sneak more into the tree again.

"The only misunderstanding here," Sallie recognized her mother's voice as she stepped to the front of the crowd, "is yours, dear." Sallie tried to stop her expression from becoming a scowl but was not sure she was successful. "You have to realize that whether or not he hurt anyone is irrelevant. It does not change what he is. He is a human, and as such he must be given over to the king in order for the barrier to be broken. This was a decision all monsters agreed upon so that we may finally be rid of this prison. We cannot forsake that simply because a few of us have become attached to him; it would be selfish and unfair to all other monsters."

"But it isn't right! No one should have to die for anyone to happy. There has to be another way. That's part of what Ryan was trying to do." Sallie reigned herself in. She was not going to convince them by acting like a pleading child. _Damn him for turning me in to this. Damn him for leaving!_ She took another breath. "He also told me some things: he told me that monsters leaving this mountain would be the end of us."

"Of course he would say that, he's a human!" Someone interrupted.

Sallie shook her head. "Humans have only grown stronger since they've sealed us away, in ways we couldn't even possibly imagine. If they were even aware we existed under this mountain, they would obliterate it; they would turn it wasteland of ash faster than we could even blink!" Sallie took a moment for that to sink in. No one contradicted her on it. They all thought the humans full capable of such a feat, even if they could not imagine how. Sallie wished she could not imagine it herself. "He also taught me what an amazing place it is down here. He made this prison into a home. He made all of our lives better. He made us laugh, he made us smile. Are you honestly going to stand here and tell me our lives would be better off without him?"

The crowd was silent. No one answered her. The only one who would meet her eyes was her mother. Eventually, someone did speak up; it was one of the dogs. "Weird puppy only had pets for dogs."

"You see? He's a good person. How can we just sentence someone like that to death?" The crowd began to part without another word. Monsters began to return to their homes, slowly filtering out of the square. "What… Where are you going?" Her mother grabbed her by the arm.

"We need to talk. Alone."

As the door to their shop closed behind them Sallie's mother turned to her. "Sallie, about what that boy said to you,"

"If you try to tell me he was lying for his own benefit one more time, I am leaving and never coming back." Her mother kept silent, but the look on her face did not change. "He told me that surface is nothing but a death trap filled with hatred and intolerance and if we were to try to enter that world they would wipe us out as surely as they trapped us down here. Not only that, but has showed me how amazing of a place this truly is. And that as long as the people you love are around you, it doesn't matter where you are."

"Sallie, you need to understand, I agree with you on this, we all do, but it would take a lot of convincing to-"

"We don't need to convince anyone. We just need to do the right thing and not kill him! We've been acting no better than the humans that trapped us down here ever since…" She trailed off, unable to finish the thought. Nobody talked about that day anymore.

"That is not a fresh pain in many minds anymore, but everyone remembers what happened that day." Her mother chuckled. "You were hardly out of diapers at the time."

"Thanks…"

"I talked to most of the town not long before you called that little meeting. We were all in agreement: the boy should not die, but they see no alternative." She trailed off.

"What does that mean?" Sallie asked.

"It means that _if_ you can manage to get the boy back here, the town will at least listen to his side of the story. I can promise no more."

Sallie smiled. It was not exactly what she wanted, but it was a start, and it was a guarantee that the town would not try to kill him the second he got back.

Shortly after, Sallie was explaining the situation to Papyrus in Grillby's. The skeleton nodded his approval, coming to the same conclusion as her. "So, now all we have to do is figure out a way to get him back here." She finished.

The skeleton looked up at here and smiled. "Actually, I think I might have an idea for that."


End file.
